What it tells you is that human-to-human contact has occurred in
more than one global region.... more than one continent.

This does not
mean everyone is getting it.

There Are Terrible Diseases

Ebola is one for sure. We applause those health care workers and others who travel to infected areas to help. It is spread by contact with bodily fluids… not through the air or by mosquitoes. Still, as casual travelers, we would avoid those areas, but we would travel to other parts of the world or other parts of the infected continent.

Some mosquito born diseases are occurring more often around the world… even at home. Have you ever heard of Chikungunya Fever, or Dengue Fever? Dengue is in the Caribbean and Chikungunya has occurred in Florida and the Caribbean.

A State Of Emergency Has Been Declared

Even when a "state of emergency" is declared somewhere, it does not mean
the whole country is sick.

Nations declare a state of emergency when
they need to get access to money and other resources to respond to what
is happening, so they can move more quickly to stop the disease
outbreak.

Past Disease Outbreaks Made Headlines

In the past, some of the diseases that were making
headlines were Bird Flu,

SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome),

and
HIV-AIDS.

Most travelers were not affected. (Not even those of us who
got close to birds.)

We went to Southeast Asia
during the Bird Flu outbreak.

We did consult with our travel medicine
doctor. He made sure our yearly influenza vaccinations were up to date,
and gave us a prescription for Tamiflu. He told us to wash our hands
often... and use a hand sanitizer when we couldn't, and to exercise
caution and good hygiene as always.

We did go
to visit a farm in Cambodia, but since we didn't go snuffling bird
feathers, we felt we were OK.

The worst thing that happened was that
there were no eggs for breakfast and even cooked chicken was off the
menu. That's not something that would keep us home.

No Need To Panic

I know that might sound a little facetious, but what
we want to emphasize is that there is no need to panic.

We believe
that travel is good for you and for a healthy global economy.

We'll
say it one more time, we're not medical experts, but we think you can
still travel during disease outbreaks if you stay informed and exercise
proper caution.

In the most extreme case, you might have to change your
itinerary...

But we believe you can still have a great trip...

...somewhere...

...just choose wisely.

Happy travels... even if you don't travel the world... just remember that life is a journey... embrace and enjoy it! Judy and Mark

Curious about what else we've written about? Search our site for a destination or travel tip.

But... We'd love to have you share this page or comment on it…Thanks, Judy and Mark

Nuts and Bolts

Ready For A New Adventure?

We escape by traveling…But there are more ways to escape. Work on something you LOVE…

Timely Tips

Summer VacationTravel is fun in the Northern summer... but don't neglect the Southern Hemisphere at this time of year. Yes, it's winter in South Africa, but that's their dry season. It's a good time to travel there.

Sometimes you need to watch rain patterns instead of just seasons to figure the best time to travel...

We're taking a Brazilian Safari this year. It's 10 years since that story. The Pantanal is dry June to October ... a good time to go.

Whether you're taking a road trip close to home or traveling abroad... whether it's summer or winter in your part of the world... the way you pack can make it all more pleasurable.

We feel we are ambassadors when we travel, perhaps we can be ambassadors in cyberspace too and show you the joys of travel.We hope EVERYONE finds inspiration here. We believe that travel promotes understanding and understanding promotes peace.